The first three sentences:

Slaves—men of West African origin branded with Christian monikers like Tom, Peter, Ben, Harry, and Daniel—helped build the White House. Three were on loan from its chief architect, James Hoban. Construction began in 1792, and slaves worked as sawyers, quarrymen, carpenters, stonemasons, brickmakers. Such was the fabric of the new republic: twelve American Presidents owned slaves, eight of them while in office.

There rest—”As if the hydra-headed economic disaster and the heightened tension between nuclear Pakistan and nuclear India were not enough to quicken the pulse, the Bush era is ending, and the Obama era is opening, with yet another conflagration in the most intractable, faith-dazed, and history-inflamed spot on earth”—is here.

Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer...

13 replies on “David Remnick on the Gaza Strip, Obama, and the Impossible”

  4. @2, condemned to repeat it, yeah? for how long?

    gonna file claims against fishies or dinosaurs or cro-magnon? gonna go down to the science center to give lucy a proper ethnic tribal burial? gonna suck some my dna to assess the damages i owe your hurt affirmative-action pride? boo hoo, wah wah.

    @2, perpetual guilt much?

  6. America was built by slaves, waaaah. Anybody who hates living here because of the past can go live in some paradise utopia in Africa.

  9. descendants of many of those slaves live in DC today and STILL don’t have equal voting rights to other USA citizens.

    inequality is tolerated still.

    as DC mainly African American, it seems pretty racist.

  11. 8
    you round up everyone who spent even one second as a slave and I’ll round up eveyone who ever owned a slave and confinscate every last cent they own and you can give it to your folks.
    ready?
    there.
    all done.
    that was easy.

  12. Lol!

    Obama’s family owned slaves back in the day! So it’s a good idea to keep Ivy League educated slave owners in the White House.

    I think it’s cool that Obama’s ancestors owned slaved, and now Obama can order people around like a slave master.

    Kaballah teaches history is a circle, PI is the circle of sacred circumcision, and gentiles have dark souls of evil.

    As Jews in Seattle we must support Obama and make sure Israel wins the war!

  13. Um, guys?

    It’s the 21st Century.

    Can we move on now?

    Seriously, let’s get a grip.

    Same goes for our position towards Cuba …

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